Early arteriovenous fistula failure associated with mortality and major adverse cardiovascular events in patients undergoing incident hemodialysis.

Background: Arteriovenous fistula (AVF) patency is important for patients undergoing hemodialysis. The association between early AVF failure and the prognosis, including all-cause mortality and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), has not been fully investigated. The present study was performed to investigate the association between early AVF failure and 3-year mortality, cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, and MACE.

Methods: We analyzed 358 patients who started hemodialysis in our institution from October 2008 to February 2020. We defined early AVF failure as cases requiring percutaneous transluminal angioplasty or reoperation within 1 year after AVF surgery. The patients were divided into two groups according to the presence or absence of early AVF failure, and the prognosis of each group was examined. The association between early AVF failure and outcomes (3-year all-cause mortality, CVD mortality, and MACE) was determined using Cox proportional hazards regression analysis.

Results: During the 3-year follow-up, 75 (20.9%) patients died (cardiovascular death:  = 39) and 145 patients developed MACE. According to the multivariable analysis, the early AVF failure group had a significantly higher risk of 3-year all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 1.42; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09-1.83;  = 0.009), CVD mortality (HR, 1.54; 95% CI, 1.29-2.08;  < 0.001), and MACE (HR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.25-2.26;  < 0.001). When the patients were stratified by age, early AVF failure was associated with 3-year all-cause mortality in all groups except for the younger group (<65 years of age).

Conclusions: Early AVF failure was associated with an increased risk of 3-year all-cause mortality, CVD mortality, and MACE.